Former Victoria Buzz staff writer wins national CBC comedy contest

We don’t usually brag about the accomplishments of our colleagues here at Victoria Buzz – then again, it’s not everyday that one wins the prestigious CBC Comedy NEXT UP contest!

After making the top 10 finalist list, Alistair Ogden had a nerve wracking two week long wait before finally finding out that he had indeed won the nationwide contest.

“I found out at 9 a.m….and I start work at 11, so I basically just ate breakfast and went to work,” he said, after being asked how he celebrated the news. “I live with my girlfriend so we jumped around the living room a bit.”

Some of you may already be familiar with the 23-year-old UVic alumnus.

Besides his one-year long position as a staff writer for Victoria Buzz, he also appeared in several stand-up comedy shows around town before moving to Vancouver to live with his girlfriend.

During his time with us, Ogden wrote over 600 articles in his smooth, witty style, including an April Fool’s joke that sent the entire city of Victoria into fits of laughter.

While in Victoria, he and another student also founded the UVic Lampoon – a comedy publication that also hosts stand-up events in for comics in Victoria.

What he’s up to now

Since his move to Vancouver, Alistair has been working at a restaurant during the day while performing at shows and coming up with jokes in the evenings.

The young performer started his comedy career in 2017 after writing a play for his screenwriting class at the University of Victoria, which he then went on to perform for a class workshop.

Today, he runs three different shows in Vancouver – Comedy Pants (Avant Garden in Chinatown) and Parkside Comedy (Parkside Brewery in Port Moody) and Magic Mic (Junction Pub on Davie Street) – and has even travelled to Edmonton to delight crowds there.

“The main thing about performing is that you’re kind of forced to be yourself more because the audience is going to sense when you’re trying to pretend,” says Ogden, when asked about how he keeps his cool on stage.

“I’m hoping winning CBC Next Up and going to Halifax will give me the credits that I need to go places do feature performances at.”

At the moment, Ogden is waiting to hear back from CBC about the logistics of his winning performance at the Halifax Comedy Festival, before he can finalize his set for the show.